Part 4

This interesting and peculiar pine has a number of names, most of which are descriptive. The whiteness of the bark and the stunted and recumbent position which the tree assumes on bleak mountains are referred to in the names whitestem pine in California and Montana, scrub pine in Montana, whitebark in Oregon, white in California, and elsewhere it is creeping pine, whitebark pine, and alpine whitebark pine. It is a mountain tree. There are few heights within its range which it cannot reach. Its tough, prostrate branches, in its loftiest situations, may whip snow banks nine or ten months of the year, and for the two or three months of summer every starry night deposits its sprinkle of frost upon the flowers or cones of this persistent tree. It stands the storms of centuries, and lives on, though the whole period of its existence is a battle for life under adverse circumstances. At lower altitudes it fares better but does not live longer than on the most sterile peak. Its range covers 500,000 square miles, but only in scattered groups. It touches the high places only, creeping down to altitudes of 5,000 or 6,000 feet in the northern Rocky Mountains. It grows from British Columbia to southern California, and is found in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and California. Its associates are the mountain climbers of the tree kingdom, Engelmann spruce, Lyall larch, limber pine, alpine fir, foxtail pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, knobcone pine, and western juniper. Its dark green needles, stout and rigid, are from one and one-half to two and one-half inches long. They hang on the twigs from five to eight years. In July the scarlet flowers appear, forming a beautiful contrast with the white bark and the green needles. In August the seeds are ripe. The cones are from one and one-half to three inches long. The seeds are nearly half an inch long, sweet to the taste. The few squirrels and birds which inhabit the inhospitable region where the whitebark pine grows, get busy the moment the cones open, and few escape. Nature seems to have played a prank on this pine by giving wings to the seeds and rendering their use impossible. The wing is stuck fast with resin to the cone scales, and the seed can escape only by tearing its wing off. The heavy nut then falls plumb to the ground beneath the branches of its parent. It might be supposed that a tree situated as the whitebark pine is would be provided with ample means of seedflight in order to afford wide distribution, and give opportunity to survive the hardships which are imposed by surroundings; but such is not the case. The willow and the cottonwood which grow in fertile valleys have the means of scattering their seeds miles away; but this bleak mountain tree must drop its seeds on the rocks beneath. In this instance, nature seems more interested in depositing the pine nuts where the hungry squirrels can get them, than in furnishing a planting place for the nuts themselves--therefore, tears off their wings before they leave the cone. The battle for existence begins before the seeds germinate, and the struggle never ceases. The tree, in parts of its range, survives a temperature sixty degrees below zero. Its seedlings frequently perish, not from cold and drought, but because the wind thrashes them against the rocks which wear them to pieces. Trees which survive on the great heights are apt to assume strange and fantastic forms, with less resemblance to trees than to great, green spiders sprawling over the rocks. Trees 500 years old may not be five feet high. Deep snows hold them flat to the rocks so much of the time that the limbs cannot lift themselves during the few summer days, but grow like vines. The growth is so exceedingly slow that the new wood on the tips of twigs at the end of summer is a mere point of yellow. John Muir, with a magnifying glass, counted seventy-five annual rings in a twig one-eighth of an inch in diameter. Trunks three and one-half inches in diameter may be 225 years old; one of six inches had 426 rings; while a seventeen-inch trunk was 800 years old, and less than six feet high. Such a tree has a spread of branches thirty or forty feet across. They lie flat on the ground. Wild sheep, deer, bear, and other wild animals know how to shelter themselves beneath the prostrate branches by creeping under; and travelers, overtaken by storms, sometimes do the same; or in good weather the sheepherder or the hunter may spread his blankets on the mass of limbs, boughs, and needles, and spend a comfortable night on a springy couch--actually sleeping in a tree top within two feet of the ground. In regions lower down, the whitebark pine reaches respectable tree form. Fence posts are sometimes cut from it in the Mono basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. In the Nez Perce National Forest trees forty feet high have merchantable lengths of twenty-four feet. Similar growth is found in other regions. In its best growth, the wood of whitebark pine resembles that of white pine. It is light, of about the same strength as white pine, but more brittle. The annual rings are very narrow; the small resin passages are numerous. The sapwood is very thin and is nearly white. Men can never greatly assist or hinder this tree. It will continue to occupy heights and elevated valleys.

BRISTLECONE PINE (_Pinus aristata_) owes its name to the sharp bristles on the tips of the cone scales. It is known also as foxtail pine and hickory pine. The latter name is given, not because of toughness, but on account of the whiteness of the sapwood. It is strictly a high mountain tree, running up to the timber line at 12,000 feet, and seldom occurring below 6,000 or 7,000 feet. It maintains its existence under adverse circumstances, its home being on dry, stony ridges, cold and stormy in winter, and subject to excessive drought during the brief growing season. Trees of large trunks and fine forms are impossible under such conditions. The bristlecone pine’s bole is short, tapers rapidly and is excessively knotty. The species reaches its best development in Colorado. Though it is seldom sawed for lumber, it is of much importance in many localities where better material is scarce. In central Nevada many valuable mines were developed and worked by using the wood for props and fuel. Charcoal made of it was particularly important in that region, and it was carried long distances to supply blacksmith shops in mining camps. Railways have made some use of it for ties. Though rough, it is liked for fence posts. The resin in the wood assists in resisting decay, and posts last many years in the dry regions where the tree grows. Ranchmen among the high mountains build corrals, pens, sheds, and fences of it; but the fibers of the wood are so twisted and involved that splitting is nearly impossible, and round timbers only are employed. The bristlecone pine can never be more important in the country’s lumber supply than it is now. It occupies waste land where no other tree grows, and it crowds out nothing better than itself. It clings to stony peaks and wind-swept ridges where the ungainly trunks are welcome to the traveler, miner, or sheepherder who is in need of a shed to shelter him, or a fire for his night camp. In situations exposed to great cold and drying winds, the bristlecone pine is a shrub, with little suggestion of a tree, further than its green foliage and small cones. The needles are in clusters of five. They cling to the twigs for ten or fifteen years. The seeds are scattered about the first of October, and the wind carries them hundreds of feet. They take root in soil so sterile that no humus is visible. Young trees and the small twigs of old ones present a peculiar appearance. The bark is chalky white, but when the trees are old the bark becomes red or brown.

FOXTAIL PINE (_Pinus balfouriana_) owes its name to the clustering of its needles round the ends of the branches, bristling like a fox’s tail. The needles are seldom more than one and one-half inches in length, and are in clusters of fives. They cling to the branches ten or fifteen years before falling. The cones are about three inches long, and are armed with slender spines. The tree is strictly a mountain species and grows at a higher altitude than any other tree in the United States, although whitebark pine is not much behind it. It reaches its best development near Mt. Whitney, California, where it is said to grow at an altitude of 15,000 feet above sea level. It has been officially reported at Farewell Gap, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, at an altitude of 13,000. At high altitudes it is scrubby and distorted, but in more favorable situations it may be sixty feet high and two in diameter. On high mountains it is generally not more than thirty feet high and ten inches in diameter. It is of remarkably slow growth, and comparatively small trees may be 200 or 300 years old. The wood is moderately light, is soft, weak, brittle. Resin passages are few and very small. The wood is satiny and susceptible of a good polish, and would be valuable if abundant. The seeds are winged and the wind scatters them widely, but most of them are lost on barren rocks or drifts of eternal snow. The untoward circumstances under which the tree must live prevent generous reproduction. It holds its own but can gain no new foothold on the bleak and barren heights which form its environment. The dark green of its foliage makes the belts of foxtail pines conspicuous where they grow above the timber line of nearly all other trees. Its range is confined to a few of the highest mountains of California, particularly about (but not on) Mt. Shasta and among the clusters of peaks about the sources of Kings and Kern rivers. Those who travel and camp among the highest mountains of California are often indebted to foxtail pine for their fuel. Near the upper limit of its range it frequently dies at the top, and stands stripped of bark for many years. The dead wood, which frequently is not higher above the ground than a man’s head, is broken away by campers for fuel, and it is often the only resource.

[Illustration]

LONGLEAF PINE

[Illustration: LONGLEAF PINE]

LONGLEAF PINE

(_Pinus Palustris_)

Longleaf is generally considered to be the most important member of the group of hard or pitch pines in this country[2]. It is known by many names in different parts of its range, and outside of its range where the wood is well known.

[2] There is no precise agreement as to what should be included in the group of hard pines in the United States, but the following twenty-two are usually placed in that class: Longleaf Pine (_Pinus palustris_), Shortleaf Pine (_Pinus echinata_), Loblolly Pine (_Pinus tæda_), Cuban Pine (_Pinus heterophylla_), Norway Pine (_Pinus resinosa_), Western Yellow Pine (_Pinus ponderosa_), Chihuahua Pine (_Pinus chihuahuana_), Arizona Pine (_Pinus arizonica_), Pitch Pine (_Pinus rigida_), Pond Pine (_Pinus serotina_), Spruce Pine (_Pinus glabra_), Monterey Pine (_Pinus radiata_), Knobcone Pine (_Pinus attenuata_), Gray Pine (_Pinus sabiniana_), Coulter Pine (_Pinus coulteri_), Lodgepole Pine (_Pinus contorta_), Jack Pine (_Pinus divaricata_), Scrub Pine (_Pinus virginiana_), Sand Pine (_Pinus clausa_), Table Mountain Pine (_Pinus pungens_), California Swamp Pine (_Pinus muricata_), Torry Pine (_Pinus torreyana_).

The names southern pine, Georgia pine, and Florida pine are not well chosen, because there are other important pines in the regions named. Turpentine pine is a common term, but other species produce turpentine also, particularly the Cuban pine. Hard pine is much employed in reference to this tree, and it applies well, but it describes other species also. Heart pine is a lumberman’s term to distinguish this species from loblolly, shortleaf, and Cuban pines. The sapwood of the three last named is thick, the heartwood small, while in longleaf pine the sap is thin, the heart large, hence the name applied by lumbermen. In Tennessee where it is not a commercial forest tree, it is called brown pine, and in nearly all parts of the United States it is spoken of as yellow pine, usually with some adjective as “southern,” “Georgia,” or “longleaf.” The persistency with which Georgia is used as a portion of the name of this tree is due to the fact that extensive lumbering of the longleaf forests began in that state. The center of operations has since shifted to the West, and is now in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The tree has many other names, among them being pitch pine and fat pine. These have reference to its value in the naval stores industry. The name longleaf pine is now well established in commercial transactions. It has longer leaves than any other pine in this country. They range in length from eight to eighteen inches. The needles of Cuban pine are from eight to twelve inches; loblolly’s are from six to nine; and those of shortleaf from three to five.

Longleaf pine’s geographic range is more restricted than that of loblolly and shortleaf, but larger than the range of Cuban pine. Longleaf occupies a belt from Virginia to Texas, following the tertiary sandy formation pretty closely. The belt seldom extends from the coast inland more than 125 miles. The tree runs south in Florida to Tampa bay. It disappears as it approaches the Mississippi, but reappears west of that river in Louisiana and Texas. Its western limit is near Trinity river, and its northern in that region is near the boundary between Louisiana and Arkansas.

Longleaf attains a height of from sixty to ninety feet, but a few trees reach 130. The diameters of mature trunks range from one foot to three, usually less than two. The leaves grow three in a bundle, and fall at the end of the second year. They are arranged in thick, broom-like bunches on the ends of the twigs. It is a tree of slow growth compared with other pines of the region. Its characteristic narrow annual rings are usually sufficient to distinguish its logs and lumber from those of other southern yellow pines. Its thin sapwood likewise assists in identification. The proportionately high percentage of heartwood in longleaf pine makes it possible to saw lumber which shows little or no sapwood. It is difficult to do that with other southern pines.

The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard for pine, very strong, tough, compact, durable, resinous, resin passages few, not conspicuous; medullary rays numerous, not conspicuous; color, light red or orange, the thin sapwood nearly white. The annual rings contain a large proportion of dark colored summerwood, which accounts for the great strength of longleaf pine timber. The contrast in color between the springwood and the summerwood is the basis of the figure of this pine which gives it much of its value as an interior finish material, including doors. The hardness of the summerwood provides the wearing qualities of flooring and paving blocks. The coloring matter in the body of the wood protects it against decay for a longer period than most other pines. This, in connection with its hardness and strength, gives it high standing for railroad ties, bridges, trestles, and other structures exposed to weather.

Longleaf pine is as widely used as any softwood in this country. It serves with hardwoods for a number of purposes. It has been a timber of commerce since an early period, and was exported from the south Atlantic coast long before the Revolutionary war; but it was later than that when it came into keen competition with the Riga pine of northern Europe. It has since held its own in the European markets, and its trade has extended to many other foreign countries, particularly to the republics of South and Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies.

It did not attain an important position in the commerce of this country until after the Civil war, but it had a place in shipbuilding before that time, and it has held that place. The builders of cars employ large quantities for frames and other parts of gondolas, box cars, and coaches. Over 175,000,000 feet were so used in 1909 in Illinois. It is the leading car building timber in this country. Its great strength, hardness, and stiffness give it that place.

It is scarcely less important as an interior wood for house finish. It is not so much its strength as its beauty that recommends it for that purpose. Its beauty is due to a combination of figure and color. Splendid variety is possible by carefully selecting the material. Manufacturers of furniture, fixtures, and vehicles are large users of longleaf pine. In these lines its chief value is due to strength.

In the naval stores industry in this country, it is more important than all other species combined. For a century and a half it has supplied this country and much of the rest of the world. The principal commodities made from the resin of this tree are spirits of turpentine and rosin. These two articles are produced by distilling the resin which exudes from wounds in the tree. The distillate is spirits of turpentine, the residue is rosin. The manufacture of naval stores has destroyed tens of thousands of trees in the past; but better methods are now in use and loss is less. Georgia and South Carolina were once the center of naval stores production; but it has now moved to Louisiana and Florida.

The supply of longleaf pine has rapidly decreased during the past twenty years, and though the end is not yet at hand, it is approaching. Young trees are not coming on to take the place of those cut for lumber. They grow slowly at best, and a new forest could not be produced in less than a hundred years. Both protection and care have been lacking. Fire usually kills seedlings in their first or second year. The result is that many extensive tracts where longleaf pine once grew in abundance have few young and scarcely any old trees now. As far as can be foreseen, this valuable timber will reach its end when existing stands have been cut.

CUBAN PINE (_Pinus heterophylla_). The Cuban pine has several local names; slash pine in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; swamp pine in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; meadow pine in Florida and Mississippi; pitch pine in Florida; and spruce pine in Alabama. Its range is confined to the coast region from South Carolina to Louisiana, from sixty to one hundred miles inland. It is the only pine in the extreme south of Florida. The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, tough, compact, durable, resinous, the resin passages few but conspicuous, rich dark orange color, the sapwood often nearly white. The annual ring is usually more than half dark colored summerwood. The Cuban pine grows rapidly, quickly appropriates vacant ground, and the species is spreading. Its needles, from eight to twelve inches long, fall the second year. The wood possesses nearly the strength, hardness, and stiffness of longleaf pine, and the trunks are as large. The two woods which are so similar in other respects differ in figure, owing to the wider annual rings of the Cuban pine. The sapwood of the latter species greatly exceeds in thickness that of longleaf pine. For that reason it is often mistaken for loblolly pine. Cuban pine never goes to market under its own name, but is mixed with and passes for one of the other southern yellow pines.

SAND PINE (_Pinus clausa_). This tree is generally twenty or thirty feet high, and eight or twelve inches in diameter. Under favorable conditions it attains a height of sixty or eighty feet and a diameter of two. The leaves are two or three inches long, and fall the third and fourth years. Its range is almost wholly in Florida but extends a little over the northern border. It grows as far south as Tampa on the west coast, and nearly to Miami on the east. It is not much cut for lumber because of its small size and generally short, limby trunk. In a few localities shapely boles are developed, and serviceable lumber is made. It is a poor-land tree, as its name implies. The cones adhere to the branches many years, and may be partly enclosed in the growing wood.

[Illustration]

SHORTLEAF PINE

[Illustration: SHORTLEAF PINE]

SHORTLEAF PINE

(_Pinus Echinata_)

In the markets the lumber of this species is known as yellow pine, southern yellow pine, and sap pine, and in some localities the term shortleaf is used. The latter is descriptive, and can be easily understood when reference is made to the living tree, because its short needles distinguish it from its associates in the pine forest; but in speaking of lumber only, the reference to the leaves has less meaning,

## particularly to one who is not acquainted with the tree’s appearance.

Its wood so closely resembles that of Cuban and loblolly pine that they are not easily distinguished by sight alone. In the East the name Carolina pine or North Carolina pine is much used, but it is not often heard west of the Allegheny mountains. Referring to the manner and locality of its growth it is called slash pine in North Carolina and Virginia, old-field pine in Alabama and Mississippi, and poor-field pine in Florida. Its tendency to take possession of abandoned ground has given it these names. It is occasionally called pitch pine in Missouri. That name would not distinguish it in most parts of the South where several species of pitch pine grow. In some regions it is known as spruce pine, but the name is not based on any characteristic of the living tree or of its wood. In North Carolina and Alabama, and in literature, it is sometimes known as rosemary pine, but that name applies rather to fine timber cut from any southern yellow pine, than to this species in particular. In Delaware it is known as shortshat and in Virginia as bull pine. To those who are familiar with the tree’s appearance, the name shortleaf pine is most accurate in definition.

The commercial range of shortleaf pine has contracted to a considerable extent since the settlement of the country. It once grew as far north as Albany, New York, and from fifty to a hundred years ago it was lumbered in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia in regions where it has now ceased to exist, or is found only as scattered trees. Its geographical range is now usually given from New York to Florida, west to Missouri and Oklahoma and northeastern Texas. It is important in lumber operations in North Carolina and southward, and westward to the limits of its range. The tree reaches its largest size and attains its finest stands west of the Mississippi river. In average size it exceeds longleaf pine. It may reach a height above 100 feet and a trunk diameter of three or four. Squared timbers of large size were formerly exported from Virginia and North Carolina. Similar sizes cannot now be procured there.